BACK ON KAUAI – MAY – JUNE 2017
Back
home from New Zealand Gil immediately continued his training.
World Sprints in 2018 will be in Tahiti and his team is practicing
techniques for rudderless boats. He
paddles from 5-7am and then again 5-7pm for three weeks with a Tahitian
coach. Retired from local handyman jobs,
he keeps busy in between repairing paddles for friends who beat them up!
V1 - repair to finish
Of course, the regatta season has started as well, so Saturdays are spent at Hanalei Bay.
L to R: Jim, Gene, Nick, Steve, Gil, Jeff
SNORKELING
The
north shore has finally calmed down enough that I’ve been able to get in the
water, yay!
At Pali Ke Kua, there are the inside fish and the outside fish. These "herds" tell me I'm crossing the line
Young Peacock Grouper, probably about 8"
Snow flake eel, one of the few daytime hunters, it is still rare to see them totally in the open
There have been about four of these small turtles in the area, they like the algae that comes up through the sand
Stripebelly Puffer fish at Anini about 15"
On a
lark, a couple friends went to lunch with me at Lava Lava in Kapaa, tables in
the sand. Then we looked to see which
fishies were at the lagoon at Lydgate Park. Terrible visibility, many large Ring Tail Surgeonfish and a good sized Barracuda traveled together (no pic).
The lagoon at Lydgate Park
The wall makes a calm spot for kids, etc. but there was enough push to stir up the sand and keep it low visibility
Oddly, another Stripebelly Puffer here; 25 miles from the other a few days earlier
The next time I went out, I
nabbed a shot of a good sized flounder.
The baby rock mover was delightful – he was really having trouble with
the strong current and swam from shelter to shelter. A day at the beach is all about seeing mermaids,
too.
Flowery Flounder about 5 feet down, he thought he was hidden
Rock mover - trying to stay still using his two big antlers
Mermaid
It
is hard to believe we have been home more than a year from Europe, ancient
history now! Gil did the Memorial Day
Run with neighbors (some in kayaks) again this year. He and two buddies used one man canoes – a
leisurely 10 mile ride from Rock Quarry past Kilauea Point Lighthouse to
Hanalei.
Rock Quarry
3 guys (photo courtesy of R. Drayton)
They headed out from Rock Quarry, will pass the Light house (barely visible above) before working down the coast to Hanalei, about ten miles
Beautiful as Rock Quarry is, the track for getting trucks in was a bloody mess (I mean muddy mess) having to tow 2WD trucks back out later. Gorgeous day finished off with a BBQ and old friends in Princeville.
NUALOLO KAI
So,
last fall I was scheduled to spend a volunteer day at a state park only
accessible by boat, with a guide. Cancelled due to rough weather, it was postponed until Memorial Day weekend. Most of the group went Friday-Monday but our group just went for
the day, a very long Saturday. I left at 5 am, home at 10:30 pm with 3 hours driving and 2 hours on the boat.
I
had first learned about Nualolo Kai as a project for my hula class, back
when. Then when I was doing research for
my book I read everything I could find about it. It is an important archeological site and is being restored by Na Pali Coast Ohana. Finally I got to, not only go, but help a
bit. The morning was spent touring with
archeaologist Victoria Wichman who offered much insight.
Called a wet landing, we chain passed the gear we had brought
and these were taken by pull wagon up to the camp
.
Camp for the five day workers.
Canoe shed foundation, the archaeological site is being restored bit by bit. The style denotes where the original builders were from.
The first of 3 months of King tides with extreme highs and lows, the reef is completely exposed here. This resting honu doesn't seem to mind and may leave on the next high water. There were tracks of two others that had recently come and gone.
400 foot X on cliff face
Lots of conjecture about what the huge geological X
signified to the original peoples and may have been used as the landing and
taking off point for voyaging canoes
Our task, after lunch, was weeding and I worked to help clear the path of chest high “sugar grass” through the native plant restoration enclosure.
Cleared path
Enclosure, wagon
The pu (shell horn) called us back to the boat, a special
tumbled conch with lashings from the original Hokulea voyaging canoe (everything had
multiple layers of stories).
Speaking of voyaging canoes, the
Hokulea returned to Hawaii on June 17th after three years of star
navigating on the seas. Friends went over
to Oahu to join thousands awaiting her home coming.
Hokulea - the canoe that proved Polynesians freely traveled the Pacific like a watery continent. (photo courtesy of D.Drayton who waited four hours to see her land.)
National
Wildlife Refuges (“fins and feathers” in Hawaii) were already taking hits on
their budget before the current admin, and we can only expect it to get far
worse. Monthly water bird counts are now
quarterly even though much of the work is done by volunteers. Go figure.
And the albatrosses at the refuge were not banded this year. That means the data collected for years is
now compromised by short sightedness. If
this year’s fledglings are not recorded, there will be no way of knowing who
they are when they return to breed in 3-4 years. It is tragic where so much effort was put
into the program and takes only 1-2 days to accomplish. Of course, there may be no agency at all by
the time they do return . . .
We
did do an annual Nene count, however. I
was on a team that stomped the entire Kilauea point area including albatross
hill and then another section in Hanalei Valley. Love it out there even though it was a pretty
hot day.
Kilauea Pt
Bat monitor - one of several successfully determining how the bat population is doing
Oddly, bats are mammals and along with the Hawaiian monk seal, the only mammals endemic to the islands
Shearwater in burrow
View from below albatross hill across to the islet, Mokuae'ae
Unbanded and soon to fledge. Previously, we would have known where he hatched when he returned - now he'll just be anonymous.
Sad fact, six were killed on the adjacent property not fence protected.
The
Princeville pioneer birds were banded this year, a privately funded group has taken that
over it seems. These guys hatched end of
January, first week of February, and are all ready to fledge right now. They have their full feathers under some
straggly down that will disappear in the wind and waves. They will be at sea for 3-4 years. Good luck!
This chick is in Mary Fran's yard - she named him Joe after her nephew. (We all know this could very well be a female - the naming is the prerogative of the yard keeper).
Joey in March, getting used to his wings
Joey ready for the first flight and life at sea.
Social gatherings
Mary Fran surprised us
by being here for her birthday celebration.
Too fun. Now she has caught up to
me.
Grad Party
It is
that time of year all over, but we were invited to our first Kauai graduation celebration. In Hawaii, first year birthdays and
graduations are huge events. The opening
prayer was in Hawaiian. The young lady then
paid homage to her parents, grandparents, and godparents. They in turn, hosted an unreal event.
Congrats Kaylor
With family. It takes a village here.
Just
for scale, the seating tent was 100 x 40 feet, the food tent 20 x 40 feet, and
the little pavilion (like we have for our ohana Easter and Christmas dinners)
was just drinks! The food was very
traditional, three kalua pigs, three kinds of poke, cooked fish, fried chicken,
two kinds of rice, mac salad, a rich potato stew, green ferns, fresh opihi from
the big island; desert cakes included lilikoi, strawberry, and chocolate.
Half of the seating
Held
at the beach of course, Kaylor chose an ocean theme and every guest was given a
gift and a thank you as they signed in!
Kaylor’s treasure chest - each table was decorated in ocean theme, beautiful and fun
Every age enjoyed the beach,
food and live music. Even with small
bites “just to try” we could barely walk to the car and only then realized it
had rained.
Home front
Meanwhile, back at the house, we
had a coco palm removed that had just worn out its welcome. On the property line, it was always a problem
with neighbors. Sad to lose any tree but
hopefully we’ll replace it with a native palm one of these days.
Starting at the top
Ever ready egrets, love yard work that stirs up bugs
Almost down, they took it to the ground between cloud bursts.
Still
plenty of coconuts in the hood, we have tons of bananas happening, too Gil is slicing them for the freezer, a quick
zap in the food processor and you have banana ice cream.
Bananas – new ones forming in the flower.
OK – next stop Oregon for house sitting and big animal
fix.
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